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Vote on Iraq mission passes House of Commons

Prime Minister Stephen Harper stands to vote in favour of a government motion to participate in U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State militants operating in Iraq, in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa October 7, 2014. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

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OTTAWA - Powered by a majority of Conservative MPs, the House of Commons voted Tuesday night in favour of an air combat mission in Iraq.

Liberal and New Democrat MPs voted against the motion, after two days of trying to outdo each other in opposition of the government.

The vote passed with 157 MPs in favour and 134 against.

The mission will see six CF-18s sent to war-torn Iraq to help protect civilians from the brutality of ISIS fighters.

Up to 600 supporting crew members will also be sent, along with two surveillance aircraft and a refuelling tanker.

The mission could take up to six months, the government says.

"This motion makes clear what we're doing and what we're not," Baird told the House Monday. "When your house is on fire, you have to call the firefighters as well as the ambulance."

Before the vote Tuesday, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair took the Liberals to task for their ever-changing position on Canada's combat mission in Iraq, accusing them not just of a "flip flop" but a "fifth flop."

Though the Liberals have attempted to present a united front in their opposition to Canada's involvement in the fight against ISIS beyond simply providing humanitarian aid, the party appears to have adopted varying positions depending on the day.

Tuesday, the Liberal foreign affairs critic Marc Garneau muddied the waters even further by telling one reporter his party would support the mission after voting against it Tuesday night.

"We will of course support what is eventually decided by the government because we know that we're sending out men and women into combat," he told a Globe and Mail reporter.

Shortly after seeing himself quoted, Garneau scrambled to backtrack, attempting to clarify through social media that he doesn't support the mission, per se, just the Canadian Forces who will be deployed once the mission begins.

Garneau's slip was too good an opportunity for Mulcair to let pass.

"This is the fifth consecutive version that the Liberals have come out with on the war in Iraq," he told reporters following question period. "It's not a flip flip, it's a fifth flop."

"Mr. Harper has not changed his mind," Mulcair continued. "He's continuing despite the fact we're being told on the ground there's no way to believe simple air strikes like this are going to be a solution."

Garneau told reporters the Liberal vote wouldn't be whipped for the simple reason all the party's MPs already agree they don't support Canada going to war.

But Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal justice minister, who has been one of the world's leaders in developing the concept of the "Right to Protect," abstained from the vote. Cotler issued a statement explaining that he could not vote against the combat mission but complained the government should have done more to make the case for combat.